Need Upper and Lower

[Guest guest]

I will be 18 in june. I have already been through 4 years of braces

and have had them off for four years now. My teeth have shifted a

lot. I was never told anything about surgery during my time in

braces. The first time i was told about the option was when i went

to a new dentist last year. He made it seem totally cosmetic and i

was upset with how he approached the issue. I have thought about it

at least once a day since then. A few weeks ago I went to a new

orthodontist and he said i needed surgery if i wanted to eat without

major pain when im 40 years old. He said its definitely not

cosmetic in my case and refered me to a surgeon. I met with the

surgeon a week ago today. He agreed surgery was the best option.

He said it also helped that i am not against the surgery. Of course

im not looking foward to it either. The orthodontist said i would

need braces for 2-3 months before surgery and 3-6 months after. He

said clear would be fine though in my case because my teeth dont

need much moving, just my jaws. The surgeon said he would move my

upper jaw up and back about 6-8 mm and my lower foward a little. He

explained the whole procedure to me. He said i will have plates in

my cheeks and he has to make 2 small incisions on the sides of my

mouth(outside). Will these scar?? Also, ive heard a lot of different

things about recovery. My surgeon told me 2 days in the hospital, 2

weeks of doing nothing and only a liquid diet. Then i can eat soft

foods for the next 3-6 weeks. I am just anxious now because i want

to get my surgery scheduled. He sent the letter and x-rays off to

the insurance company to find out exactly what my parents will have

to pay out of pocket before we start anything. I have such a

busy,crazy schedule to work around I really need the insurance to

respond soon. He said about 2-4 weeks. The plan we really hope to

work out is to get braces put on the very beginning of may and have

the surgery the first week of august (possibly last week of july but

thats really really pushing it) It all depends on the insurance

though...ahhh!!! I have no idea when else i can do it because im

starting my first year of college (in town) at the end of

august/beginning of sept and i am supposed to start teaching dance

in the fall, along with nutcracker season all fall(but my surgeon's

wife does all the costumes for nutcracker so hopefully he will help

me out lol) and i want to try out for the pregame show in the

superbowl feb 2005 lol....so yeah lets all pray for the first week

of august!!!! Any advice for me? sry this was sooo long lol

[Guest guest]

Sweetpearl

Just make sure you have an xray of your wrist to see that you have

stopped growing. This surgery can only be done once you have stopped

growing.

Need Upper and Lower

I will be 18 in june. I have already been through 4 years of braces

and have had them off for four years now. My teeth have shifted a

lot. I was never told anything about surgery during my time in

braces. The first time i was told about the option was when i went

to a new dentist last year. He made it seem totally cosmetic and i

was upset with how he approached the issue. I have thought about it

at least once a day since then. A few weeks ago I went to a new

orthodontist and he said i needed surgery if i wanted to eat without

major pain when im 40 years old. He said its definitely not

cosmetic in my case and refered me to a surgeon. I met with the

surgeon a week ago today. He agreed surgery was the best option.

He said it also helped that i am not against the surgery. Of course

im not looking foward to it either. The orthodontist said i would

need braces for 2-3 months before surgery and 3-6 months after. He

said clear would be fine though in my case because my teeth dont

need much moving, just my jaws. The surgeon said he would move my

upper jaw up and back about 6-8 mm and my lower foward a little. He

explained the whole procedure to me. He said i will have plates in

my cheeks and he has to make 2 small incisions on the sides of my

mouth(outside). Will these scar?? Also, ive heard a lot of different

things about recovery. My surgeon told me 2 days in the hospital, 2

weeks of doing nothing and only a liquid diet. Then i can eat soft

foods for the next 3-6 weeks. I am just anxious now because i want

to get my surgery scheduled. He sent the letter and x-rays off to

the insurance company to find out exactly what my parents will have

to pay out of pocket before we start anything. I have such a

busy,crazy schedule to work around I really need the insurance to

respond soon. He said about 2-4 weeks. The plan we really hope to

work out is to get braces put on the very beginning of may and have

the surgery the first week of august (possibly last week of july but

thats really really pushing it) It all depends on the insurance

though...ahhh!!! I have no idea when else i can do it because im

starting my first year of college (in town) at the end of

august/beginning of sept and i am supposed to start teaching dance

in the fall, along with nutcracker season all fall(but my surgeon's

wife does all the costumes for nutcracker so hopefully he will help

me out lol) and i want to try out for the pregame show in the

superbowl feb 2005 lol....so yeah lets all pray for the first week

of august!!!! Any advice for me? sry this was sooo long lol

[Guest guest]

my advice... and not to scare you... but things always take longer

than you think. hopefully that won't be the case for you... but i

learned the hard way that it is REALLY hard to plan around this

thing. another thing - there is NEVER a convenient time to have jaw

surgery. you just have to do it when you can. try to stay flexible

and prepare yourself for whatever comes along.

my ortho told me i would only need braces for six months b/f surgery

but he ended up making me wait a year. again, not trying to scare

you... but just trying to prepare you for all possibilities.

good luck with everything!

> I will be 18 in june. I have already been through 4 years of

braces

> and have had them off for four years now. My teeth have shifted a

> lot. I was never told anything about surgery during my time in

> braces. The first time i was told about the option was when i went

> to a new dentist last year. He made it seem totally cosmetic and i

> was upset with how he approached the issue. I have thought about

it

> at least once a day since then. A few weeks ago I went to a new

> orthodontist and he said i needed surgery if i wanted to eat

without

> major pain when im 40 years old. He said its definitely not

> cosmetic in my case and refered me to a surgeon. I met with the

> surgeon a week ago today. He agreed surgery was the best option.

> He said it also helped that i am not against the surgery. Of

course

> im not looking foward to it either. The orthodontist said i would

> need braces for 2-3 months before surgery and 3-6 months after. He

> said clear would be fine though in my case because my teeth dont

> need much moving, just my jaws. The surgeon said he would move my

> upper jaw up and back about 6-8 mm and my lower foward a little. He

> explained the whole procedure to me. He said i will have plates in

> my cheeks and he has to make 2 small incisions on the sides of my

> mouth(outside). Will these scar?? Also, ive heard a lot of

different

> things about recovery. My surgeon told me 2 days in the hospital,

2

> weeks of doing nothing and only a liquid diet. Then i can eat soft

> foods for the next 3-6 weeks. I am just anxious now because i want

> to get my surgery scheduled. He sent the letter and x-rays off to

> the insurance company to find out exactly what my parents will have

> to pay out of pocket before we start anything. I have such a

> busy,crazy schedule to work around I really need the insurance to

> respond soon. He said about 2-4 weeks. The plan we really hope to

> work out is to get braces put on the very beginning of may and have

> the surgery the first week of august (possibly last week of july

but

> thats really really pushing it) It all depends on the insurance

> though...ahhh!!! I have no idea when else i can do it because im

> starting my first year of college (in town) at the end of

> august/beginning of sept and i am supposed to start teaching dance

> in the fall, along with nutcracker season all fall(but my surgeon's

> wife does all the costumes for nutcracker so hopefully he will help

> me out lol) and i want to try out for the pregame show in the

> superbowl feb 2005 lol....so yeah lets all pray for the first week

> of august!!!! Any advice for me? sry this was sooo long lol

[Guest guest]

Whew! That's a big house of cards you're stacking up there, all

presupposing that all this stuff goes like clockwork.

I'm not saying it can't, nor that it won't. But I will tell you that

orthodontia is notorious for being slow when you want it to be fast,

and that there are many glitches that can postpone or delay the

surgery, so it's not wise to get yourself too deeply locked into a

pile of calendar expectations.

It sounds as though you're on track with a more knowledgeable set of

docs now, and that sounds good to me.

As for the two small incisions: If they're like mine, they will go

through the lower part of the cheek and will be tiny. I think I had

three little stitches on each side, and I would defy you to find the

spots now. Nor have I been able to see them on anyone else. (My

surgeon uses them so that he can get the angle he wants when he

places the three little titanium screws that hold the lower jaw where

it needs to be.)

I think two days in the hospital is pretty usual for those who have

upper and lower, at least in this country. And what my surgeon said

was that you're having trouble packing enough calories in to heal

properly, so he didn't want me trying to do anything that required

much energy. For me, the healing time was more like 8 weeks. But I

was older than you. I was able to have soft foods, as my mouth was

not wired shut, but I wasn't allowed to chew anything for about 6 to

8 weeks, best I remember.

As for what your insurance will or won't do, who knows? Some

companies are very quick to approve the surgery for some policies.

Others stall forever, lose submissions repeatedly and try to make

things as difficult as possible. (My theory is that some of 'em think

if they can keep stalling long enough, you'll give up.) I hope your

approval will come easily and quickly, but don't count on it. Your

surgeon, though, may have a pretty good idea, from his previous

experience, what your company is likely to do.

Good luck!

Cammie